PCB moves IHC against orders to disclose players’ financial details

ISLAMABAD: The Pak­istan Cricket Board (PCB) has approached the Islam­abad High Court (IHC), challenging two separate orders of the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) directing the board to disclose extensive financial, contractual and operational information relating to national cricketers, selection committee members and other PCB officials under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017.

The petitions, filed through Advocate Kashif Ali Malik, are fixed for hearing before IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar.

The first petition challenges the PIC’s order of July 9, requiring the PCB to disclose its annual budgets for the financial years 2023 to 2025, along with a detailed breakdown of expenditure; policies governing the confidentiality and disclosure of such information; details of players and officials who travelled for this year’s T20 World Cup; and details of the board’s audit mechanisms and reports.

The second petition relates to information concerning Pakistan’s ODI series against South Africa held at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, in November 2025. Through its order, the PIC directed the PCB to provide a breakdown of revenue, expenditure and details of steps taken or proposed to upgrade Iqbal Stadium for hosting PSL Season 12.

Board claims disclosure orders threaten commercial interests, privacy rights of players

Since taking office in 2024, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has stopped publishing the board’s financial statements on the PCB website. These statements had previously detailed expenditure across all departments, including the chairman’s office.

The PCB has contended that it operates in a highly competitive international sporting environment and, unlike government departments funded through the public exchequer, receives no funding from the federal government or the Consoli­dated Fund.

Instead, it says its revenues are generated primarily through commercial activities, including broa­dcasting rights, sponsorship agreements, media rights, gate receipts, licensing arrangements, international cricket events and distributions from the Inte­rnational Cricket Council.

In its petitions, the PCB argues that the impugned orders wrongly assume that all information sought is subject to disclosure under Section 5 of the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, while ignoring the Act’s express exemptions protecting personal privacy, confidential contractual arrangements, commercially sensitive information and third-party interests under Section 16. It contends that the information sought extends beyond institutional expenditure to confidential contractual and personal financial information of identifiable individuals, without recognising the distinction between institutional transparency and private financial affairs.

The PCB submitted that disclosure of confidential remuneration structures and contractual terms would prejudice its commercial interests and contractual negotiations.

The board also sought interim relief, arguing that once confidential contractual and personal financial information entered the public domain, the resulting prejudice to its commercial interests, contractual relationships and the privacy rights of third parties would be irreversible.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2026